Is it worth it to switch a CJ7 over to electric fan?

[dwajeep]

I love my '79 CJ7 with stock 258 6cylinder - now that I threw away the Carter carb, installed a rebuilt Motorcraft 2150, and switched the distrubutor , wires & coil over to TFI. What an improvement! Now I am thimking about to convert over to electric fan for cooling. Does anyone have any opinion on how worthwhile an electric fan is on the 258 6 cylinder? :?:

 

[Collin the Hen]

I would like to do it someday soon. It can only help. Go for it!

 

[Turbogus]

My ole '78 came with a 'pusher' electric fan mounted on the front side of the radiator, kind of funky looking, but when I fabbed an expanded metal bug/debris screen to go in front of the radiator I reversed the polarity of the fan and installed a temperature potentiometer to dial in the thing, when I got it it was hard wired to a hot circuit and ran constant. It's been working well for the last two summers since I made these alterations.

 

[dwajeep]

Good info. Any feelings on whether you gained some horsepower?

 

[Turbogus]

Sine this Renegade came with an electric fan when I purchsed it I can't speak to actual gains. But this Jeep seems on the whole stronger than the '77 I had years ago that was completely stock.

 

[Carleysjeep]

I bought a electric fan out of wrecking yard. Get on for a ford taurus, the have a 2 speed fan got mine for 40 bucks

 

[SteelHeadz]

For cooling, i went and bought a 4 Row custom aluminum radiator. Got the Cooling Fan from a 04 GC. Then i went to Carquest and bought an adjustable cooling fan module. I've got it set to turn on at 195 Deg. I've been running this setup for 8 years without any issues.

 

[RangerRick]

Questions for you Don? Do you wheel this vehicle in the back country where your life may depend on it's reliability, cross deep rivers and water, mud bog or crawl in the rocks at under 2 MPH? Wheel in really deep snow where your diffs are buried? Snow plow or tow a trailer? If the answer is yes to one or more of these, please read below:

Mechanical fan with a fan clutch properly spaced from the radiator AND properly spaced in its fan shroud.

No Electric can move as much air as effectively regardless of advertising from electric fan brand X Inc. Mechanical fans are much simpler and if they stop working, your water pump stopped turning and there's no gettin' round that obstacle as far as cooling is concerned without a water pump or belt.
Rick

 

[dwajeep]

Makes sense. Guess I have been trying assess whether any gains in horsepower from switching to an electric fanwould outweigh the risks of it "coming unplugged" way out in no man's land... But you make a good point. It is hard to beat just good old reliability, isn't it? Thanks, Don

 

[Shewilly]

I considered this mod myself, so I took a poll amoung friends and the smartest answer (I think) was similar to Rickster's. Mechanical does just as good, maybe better, job. Simpler design. More dependable in most offroad conditions. Why change it?

 

[Turbogus]

Well I broke down and finally got a fan shroud for my '78 CJ 5. One improtant thing of note, the new Omix-Ada fan shround have to be modified on the bottom to allow room for the lower radiator hose and the drain petcock. Now I'm trying to figure if I can mount the fan to the shroud itself~Anyone ever done this? I'm considering using plumbing strap.
Thanks and a lift of the lynch lid for any responses

 

[dave123]

Questions for you Don? Do you wheel this vehicle in the back country where your life may depend on it's reliability, cross deep rivers and water, mud bog or crawl in the rocks at under 2 MPH? Wheel in really deep snow where your diffs are buried? Snow plow or tow a trailer? If the answer is yes to one or more of these, please read below:

Mechanical fan with a fan clutch properly spaced from the radiator AND properly spaced in its fan shroud.

No Electric can move as much air as effectively regardless of advertising from electric fan brand X Inc. Mechanical fans are much simpler and if they stop working, your water pump stopped turning and there's no gettin' round that obstacle as far as cooling is concerned without a water pump or belt.
Rick

my thoughts exactly. I have factory clutch fan and would never trade it for an electric.

 

[Boze]

I would say yes, IF there was such a thing as an electric water pump for the Jeep straight six. You can find them for some of the older AMC V8s, (which I think uses the same water pump as a small block Ford), but you can't, or at least I can't find one for my 4.0. The reason I say this is that with an electric fan/water pump combo you can shut your engine off when it starts to get hot and still cycle cooling water through the block. Alot of drag cars have that set up. A trip to the sand dunes a couple months ago had me wishing I had it on my Jeep too.